Nick's Gift
by AlwaysInSonder
Summary: Nick hadn't ever been particularly pious in his lifetime, but ever since meeting his bunny, he found himself turning to more of a hopeful disbeliever.


_Certificate of Birth_

 _The Zootopian Republic Welcomes the Arrival of a New Citizen_

 ** _Theodora Marian Hopps Wilde_**

 _Species: Hybrid (Leporidae-Vulpes; Leporidae dominant)_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Date & Time of Birth: 29/08/2017; 05:22_

 _Birth weight: 0.15kg_

 _Mother's Name: Judith Laverne Hopps-Wilde_

 _Mother's Species: Leporidae (Prey)_

 _Father's Name: Nicholas Piberius Hopps-Wilde_

 _Father's Species: Vulpes (Predator)_

 _Attending Physician: Dr Dorothy Thumper_

Nick signed off the paperwork and handed the clipboard back to the receptionist. The aged sloth slowly pulled the clipboard from Nick's paw and he gave her a charming, but tired grin as she brought it close to her bespectacled face. It seems like sloths had the benefit of not going any slower when they were elderly.

"Thea…dora…What…a… _lovely_ …name…"

Nick gave his usual one-sided smirk but threw anxious glances down the door. He wondered what was taking them so long. The bunny-births specialist had told him that they were only going to be a few minutes with the tests. It's been close to half an hour already and he knew his Judy wasn't a patient one.

His paws fiddled with his phone; set to silence ever since he had sent an email blast announcing their daughter's birth. He knew hundreds of notifications awaited him; all anxious to catch a glimpse of the miracle newborn. Having hundreds of in-laws can be a pain all the at times.

Indeed, little Thea's very existence was a miracle - the very first fox-rabbit hybrid ever born. They'd been told before to not have their hopes up; that their species were far too different to produce a viable offspring. But a young hopeful, Dr Thumper, had managed to map the genetic similarities of their species to cross-match genes that would gift them with their little bundle of joy.

He's had his reservations. When Judy and himself had finally been sure that they were ready for kits, he had anticipated she would go for adoption. Which they had, and still were. They were determined to adopt at least one kit from the drenches of the welfare system. A fox cub, preferably. But the process had been so long and agonising that they had frequent fights and extra stresses put upon them. Judy being a prey and their interspecies marriage made it difficult for them to adopt a predator cub even though they comfortably fit all other criteria.

They had recently bought a new home in a good, family suburb that was close to the ZPD and also good schools. It was even close to Nick's mother's apartment, which would come plenty useful as the vixen had graciously offered to be a caregiver for when they both had to be at work. They held respectable, steady jobs in the ZPD. With the Mammal Pro-Family Initiative, both were entitled to paid parental leaves to look after their kits when needed. All seemed to be in their favour, save for that one detail.

There was no explicit law that prevented them from adopting predator kits. All they were told, was that the process was going to take even longer for them. Maybe a few months, maybe a few years. It devastated them both.

Assisted mating had always been on his mind. But it had been Judy who'd come home one day with a pamphlet in her paws asking if he was willing to try. Her eyes had looked so full of hope and the potential joy of being able to hold their own kit made it difficult for him to even _consider_ rejecting her.

Nick was sure the entire process aged him a few decades. He'd worried for her safety, for the countless needles they had prodded her with and the constant monitoring she required should her body reject the pregnancy. Through all the pain and medication, Judy stood strong and ecstatic and he made sure he was his witty, suave self; making his wife laugh as much as she could. They were only buoyed further by each step of the way of news that their kit was healthy.

It was truly a miracle. His father-in-law had called it a gift from above. Nick hadn't ever been particularly pious in his lifetime, but ever since meeting his bunny, he found himself turning to more of a hopeful disbeliever.

"Here you are Mr Wilde."

So… _tiny_.

A little bundle was handed to him. So little, it fit comfortably in one of his paws. Nick forgot to breathe and instead listened to the soft puffs of breath the tiny kit took. Her small paws covered her face and she trembled lightly, obviously missing the warmth of her mama's embrace. He carefully brought the bundle to his chest, making sure to support her tiny head as he attempted warming the newborn.

Tiny.

Her fur was a warm, beautiful red. Not quite Nick's brilliant red coat, but it did remind him of his mother.

Everything about him felt numb. He didn't feel his legs, his tail, his ears. He swore he couldn't even bring himself to breathe. Every sense was focused on the tiny being in his paws. A warmth washed over him and he immediately felt the imprint. His mother had said it would feel as though someone had doused him with warm water after a cold shower. The feeling didn't even come close to that. His world felt surreal.

He had already scented her – sweet, fresh and…happy. Was it even possible to scent an emotion?

Nick's vision blurred and he carefully balanced the tiny bundle to one paw and brushed his eyes off with the other. He was turning into a sap – being married to the sappiest bunny ever did that to him. He'd already teared up once – the moment she had been born and there he was, succumbing to the tugs in his chest.

She yawned; her first yawn.

"Happy Birthday, Princess."

He felt his heart swell as the kit little nose twitched much like her mother's would. Indeed, she was a princess. _His_ little girl. His precious kit. A surge of protectiveness overcame him – similar to the feeling when he'd first instinctively sensed Judy was pregnant.

 _"Nick, Chief said I'm to go by myself. You're supposed to catch up on paperwork."_

 _Nick ignored her and jumped into the patrol car. Damn the paperwork, he couldn't let her out of his sight. He didn't know what had happened, but Nick could not bring himself to part from Judy._

 _Their marriage made it so that they weren't allowed to work together as much as they would have liked to, but Bogo knew enough to trust two of his brightest officers and gave them the occasional case to solve together. Otherwise, they were apart. It hadn't been much of a problem before, especially since they'd see each other at the end of the work day in their home; but Nick found himself growing more antsy each minute he was apart from his wife._

 _"Just drive, Mrs Wilde. I can always do the paperwork later. Someone's got to keep an eye on you."_

 _"We're short-staffed for the moment, Nick. You know that."_

 _"Yeah, yeah. Paid migration. Whatever. I still think it's a bad idea to go on patrols alone."_

 _"It's midday!"_

 _"I committed most of my fiendish acts midday, m'lady."_

 _Judy rolled her eyes but gave in. He'd been acting strange the entire week. She wondered if it was from the fact that she had been feeling sick as of late. The injections and medication from the treatments did make her sick, but not to the extent she had been feeling lately. Nick had been badgering her to get time off of work, but he gave in when he realized Judy needed the distraction to occupy her mind._

 _Judy was subjected to her fox husband literally on her tail. Even when she got off the car to buy their usual five o'clock coffee, he was right behind her._

 _She only began to have a sense of what was happening when a passing tiger bumped into her by accident, and Nick nearly went feral on him._

 _She sneaked out in the middle of lunch break yesterday, while Nick was napping to head to the pharmacy. She'll know tonight if what she was feeling was true._

* * *

 _"I don't know, Ma. I just can't help it. Her scent's changed and it's making me crazy. It's like when she leaves my sight, I get anxious and-"_

 _"…Wait, her scent changed? What do you mean?"_

 _"She smells…different. A good different, but not good now that I keep searching for her scent."_

 _Nick's eyes narrowed as his mother chuckled heartily at the other end of the line. She was turning into a Finnick herself, laughing at his expense. His own mother._

 _"Good talk, Ma."_

 _"Sorry honey. It's just- I can't help but be reminded of when your father acted that way."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Your daddy was like that when I was pregnant with you. Good Noah, the mammal won't let me leave the house! It was like- "_

 _"Wait, WHAT."_

 _"Nick? Can we talk?"_

 _Nick turned his head to see his wife at the door. She looked pale, but there was excitement in her eyes. His eyes dropped to the object in her paw - a pregnancy test. He felt blood leave his head and his vision black out._

 _"Nick!"_

* * *

"…Mr Wilde?"

He blinked and lifted his head. The nurse had to smile at the look of adoration and quiet awe on the new father's face.

"You may see your wife now."

 _Their_ kit.

Nick slowly walked back to his wife's ward, careful not to jostle the sleeping new born. Judy's room was already filled to the brim with bouquets, balloons, toys and all other sorts of gifts from their kit's new aunts and uncles. He was grateful for them; his baby deserved to grow up in a big, loving family. One that he cannot give – save for a doting grandmother who was already on her way to see her only grandkit. Judy's parents were already on the next train to the city.

 _"Oh Nicky! I just saw your text! How is Judy, is she doing alright?"_

 _"…"_

 _"Honey, are you there? Is everything alright?"_

 _"…She's born Ma. She's…She's perfect. Judy's doing great."_

 _"…A little girl! Oh…Nick…"_

 _He smiled as he heard his mother's sniffles and excited chattering over the phone._

Judy appeared anxious as he stepped into the room. But the expression melted away and her eyes immediately welled up at the sight of her husband and baby. Nick very carefully handed the bundle over to Judy, knowing how restless Judy had been. It had been a relatively long birth, but they were blessed in that nothing out of the ordinary had transpired.

Well, save for Nick yelling at the nurses to do something to ease his wife's pain and eventually fainting from the pain of the sympathy cramps he'd claimed he was too cool to have. But a nurse had told an apologetic Judy that it was just another day in the office for the staff.

Nick sat by Judy, putting his arm around her shoulders as both took a good first look at their kit. She'd finally moved away her little paws to grip at her mother's hospital gown.

"Well, clearly she takes after me."

Nick quipped with a little kiss to his bunny's ear. Judy elbowed him playfully with her free arm but was smiling all the same. But both froze as the little kit's eyelids slowly shifted. One eye followed the other till brilliant, forest green eyes – sleepy ones, peered up at them. She blinked and yawned, snuggling back to her mama's arms as though she was already done assessing the world. Judy couldn't help but think how Nick-like that was.

Eventually, Judy felt the tears well up and she started to sniffle. Her husband sighed good-naturedly and pulled her tight to his side for a hug. His snout pressed to the side of her face, giving her soft kisses and mumbling against her fur.

"You did brilliant, sweetheart. You're incredible."

Judy only sobbed harder to her husband's chest and Nick only hugged her tighter. He didn't think it was possible to be so in love with another mammal. That he'd still feel that flutter in his chest whenever he woke up to her serene face. That he'd sometimes have his nightmares stopped just from being awoken by her snuggling close to him.

Everything between them felt so right.

He pulled himself beneath the sheets, pulling his family to his chest. Judy settled herself easily, burying herself comfortably against the crook of his neck and shoulder. He knew she was scenting him as much as she was scenting her. They both had changed and Nick knew that their scents were burned to his mind – a scent he was going to crave every moment apart from his family.

"I love you, Judy."

Judy froze in his arms. He looked down and smiled tenderly as her eyes watered. He reached over to brush them away. She knew how difficult those words were for him to utter and he felt terrible that he had to make his wife wait to hear those words when she spoke them freely.

He kissed her forehead and held her tighter. A paw going to their sleeping kit to touch one of her tiny paws.

"I love you too, Princess."

* * *

 _"She's born, buddy."_

 _"She? Oh boy, Nick. You know what they say about daughters."_

 _Nick frowned over the fennec's good-natured chortles._

 _"No…What do they say?"_

 _"They're karma for all the stupid shit you did in your past."_

 _Nick blanched._

* * *

 **A/N: I wrote this in lieu of the lack of updates for You Swoon, You Sigh. There's a new installment in the works, coming your way! Don't worry! I've been held up by papers, tests and other fun things.**

 **I really do need a beta-reader. I think it would help a lot considering I write most of my work in the middle of the night on an impulse. I do try to read twice, thrice and quadruple times to ensure no mistakes, but I do keep finding them much later after I publish. Ugh. Many apologies if that impacted your reading flow.**

 **Anyway, just a cute little tidbit. Theodora means 'gift' and she's Nick's little gift :3 She'll be called Thea for short or "Princess" by her daddy. Nick's definitely got another lady who's got him wrapped around her tiny paw.**

 **Sincerely hoped you've enjoyed this. Please do leave a review and share :)**


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